Heroes for Sale (1933)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

William A. Wellman

Writers:

Robert Lord (screenplay) &
Wilson Mizner (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 June 1933 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Missouri | Riot | Pain | Suicide | Trench Warfare

Cast

Richard Barthelmess	...	Thomas 'Tom' Holmes
Aline MacMahon	...	Mary Dennis
Loretta Young	...	Ruth Loring Holmes
Gordon Westcott	...	Roger Winston
Robert Barrat	...	Max Brinker (as Robert Barratt)
Berton Churchill	...	Mr. Winston
Grant Mitchell	...	George W. Gibson
Charley Grapewin	...	Pa Dennis (as Charles Grapewin)
Robert McWade	...	Dr. Briggs
G. Pat Collins	...	Leader of agitators (as George Pat Collins)
James Murray	...	Blind soldier
Edwin Maxwell	...	Laundry company president
Margaret Seddon	...	Jeanette Holmes
Arthur Vinton	...	Captain Joyce
Robert Elliott	...	'Red' squad policeman #1

Also Known As:

Breadline (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

76 min (copyright length) | USA:71 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #2611-R, 3 September 1936 for re-release)

Filming Locations:

Columbia/Warner Bros. Ranch - 411 N. Hollywood Way, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

First National Pictures

Trivia:

Director William A. Wellman used real hoboes for the fight scene and real laundry workers for the laundry scenes.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Ruth arrives by taxicab at the scene of the riot, the camera moves toward the cab and she is seen letting herself out from the back seat of the passenger side. However, after a jump cut, the driver is reaching around from the front seat of the cab and opening the door for her.

Quotes:

Thomas 'Tom' Holmes: You used to hate the capitalists.
Max Brinker: Naturally. That was before I had money.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Semper Fidelis

I WATCHED 'TIL IT STOPPED!

There's something strange about watching most pre-code WB movies: they don't end so much as they just STOP. It's as if Jack Warner doled out a budget and the director just shut the production down when the film stock quit being delivered. Wild Bill Wellman's a top-notch director knee deep into his socialist fervor period (see WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD as a double bill), Barthemless is a hapless WWI vet who traded heroism for a morphine addiction--- his cowardly platoon commander got the glory and he faces the next 14 years dealing with everything life throws at him. His fortunes ironically change when his cartoon-Red neighbor (played to the usual hilt by Robert Barratt) invents a machine that allows them both to get rich, but Barthemless has gains a deeper social conscious as Barratt loses his. This is really a big budget (for Warners!) soap opera. An uplifting ending is tacked on after Barthemless disappears into the Land of the Hobos. Watchable as an example of early 30's "realism."